Pedigree and Hiring, Once Again

The pedigree-sensitivity of the City College search committee chair has stimulated a lot of blogospheric chatter again about whether a candidate's pedigree ought to be relevant to hiring decisions. We have addressed the topic previously, in which our central conclusion was this: "Where pedigree has substantial evidential value about the quality and character of philosophical training, and where pedigree also informs the interpretation of letters of recommendation, it would be foolish to eliminate pedigree as an important point of information in the evaluation of job candidates."